The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 151 Backer
Ma Xun is a person who doesn't like trouble. If it is beyond his ability, he basically won't get involved.

He thinks this is a good idea, as it seeks stability.

Now, it seems that his nephew is following suit. He is also a very stable person.

It was no secret that Ma Xun wanted to go to war. Many people knew that he had this idea, and they also knew that Xu Da, Chang Yuchun and others were always encouraging him.

However, the most basic premise has not yet been met, that is, Ma Xun has no children now.

If we have a son, this matter might be negotiable, but without a son, there is no room for negotiation at all.

What's more, Ma Xun now has an important task to do and has to prepare to compile a parenting guide.

It is better to continue doing your job. Ma Xun needs to compile medical books, complete a series of outlines, and then organize the content.

The workload at the Imperial Medical Service suddenly increased, but most people had no objections.

For imperial physicians, if they could participate in compiling a medical classic that would be passed down to the world, it would be a merit and they might have the opportunity to be remembered forever.

Leaving a name in history and being remembered forever is a huge temptation not only for some "scholars", but even for ordinary people.

As the Chinese New Year gets closer, Ma Xun becomes busier and busier, busy passively and attending "dinner parties" passively.

Li Zhen brought Li Jinglong to the courtyard and said, "Sister-in-law, I'll leave Jinglong to you first."

"Don't worry, brother-in-law." Liu Shuning said with a smile, "Jinglong is well-behaved and obedient, and the queen likes him too."

Li Zhen complained, "It's because those people in front were too rough and always liked to provoke Jinglong, otherwise they would have taken him over."

On New Year's Day, the emperor would usually give a banquet, and all civil and military officials would gather in the Huagai Hall for the banquet.

It’s just that Zhu Yuanzhang chose to arrange a small-scale banquet before the grand banquet before New Year’s Day, which was only for meritorious officials and people from Huaixi.

Liu Shuning smiled and joked, "Brother-in-law, I think it's not just the Huaixi family. The one in my family has also provoked Jinglong a lot."

Li Zhen was a little surprised, and then began to double-standardize, "That's different, I like Jinglong, so I'm happy to tease him."

This is what Li Zhen really thought. Whether it was Zhu Yuanzhang or Ma Xun, they loved Li Jinglong because they loved him, so they tricked Li Jinglong into catching sparrows to eat and coaxed Li Jinglong into showing off his bare butt.

Their behavior was not at all like that of an emperor or a duke. They were just some 'unethical elders' in the village, rude family members.

Ma Xun came out of the house and said, "Brother-in-law, I'm counting on you today. You have to help me block the wine!"

"If Chongba tries to force you to drink, I can't stop him." Li Zhen said with a smile, "If someone else tries to force you to drink, I will help you block it."

Just this sentence is enough, "I'm not really afraid of other people, I'm just afraid of Brother Chang, Brother Tang and the others."

The two peers of the Emperor and the Empress walked towards the Huagai Palace chatting and laughing, while Liu Shuning held Li Jinglong's hand and walked towards the Rouyi Palace, where a banquet for the ladies of honor was being held.

Ma Xun's worry was normal. Tang He was happy to see Ma Xun. "Little brother, let's drink a few more cups. I will be leaving for the war in a few days. I might die on the battlefield and won't have the chance to drink again."

Zhou Dexing next to him said, "If there's a chance to drink, I'll wipe my tears and pour two cups of wine in front of our graves. Isn't that drinking with us?"

Zhou Dexing will be Tang He's deputy general in the expedition to Sichuan. This brother who grew up together is also trustworthy.

Tang He seemed to have suddenly realized something and said, "That's right. He didn't drink with us when we were alive. Now that we're dead, he pretends to go and have a drink with us."

Ma Xun was numb. Not only did Tang He and the others often speak without restraint, but sometimes you couldn't tell whether they were truly being careless or were deliberately making mistakes.

Li Zhen said directly, "Drink less. Have you made mistakes due to drinking less often?"

Li Zhen immediately started criticizing him, "Dingchen, just stop talking. You've always been the cause of trouble. Normally, your words are not pleasant to the ear, and when you're drunk, you're even more afraid to say anything!"

The moment Tang He shrank his neck, Li Zhen turned his gun to Zhou Dexing, "I should call you Jiang Xiahou now. You and Chongba have known each other since childhood. Drink less wine. Your parents are counting on you to have more children."

Zhou Dexing quickly said in a flattering tone, "Brother-in-law, my parents have been gone for many years."

"Even if he's gone, you should make more progress!" Li Zhen said earnestly, "I have a way to help people have more children, you should learn from me. You only have one son now, what should you do?"

Tang He and Zhou Dexing could only listen to advice; they had no way of being tough in front of Li Zhen.

They were good friends with Zhu Yuanzhang when they were young, and they had a lot of fun together. They knew Li Zhen at that time.

The most important thing is that Li Zhen is older. Tang He and the others are now marquises, around 40 years old, but Li Zhen is already 70 years old. Although they are of the same generation, there is almost a generation difference between them.

Xu Da and others were standing by and stopped talking. They were too familiar with Li Zhen. This elder brother-in-law was usually low-key, but he was not polite when scolding others. He was scolding the younger brother who was not good enough and was not worry-free. Now he was a duke, so what? He still had to be scolded by this elder brother-in-law?

If you think about it more, he deserves to be scolded because Li Zhen is a duke and the emperor's brother-in-law.

If these people were from the same hometown as Zhu Yuanzhang, especially people like Tang He and Zhou Dexing, they were all raised by Li Zhen, and Li Zhen knew their parents and elders!
Ma Xun became arrogant and proud. Having a brother-in-law who was the emperor, he felt confident.

Now there is also an older and more respected "brother-in-law". With this backer, the nobles dare not speak nonsense or act recklessly.

Tang He and Zhou Dexing had lost both their wife and their army, and originally wanted to make a fuss by getting Ma Xun drunk.

Now he was supporting Li Zhen, and even when they sat down in the hall, they sat on Li Zhen's left and right, listening to Li Zhen chatting about family matters.

Chang Yuchun ran up to Ma Xun and whispered, "Did you and your brother-in-law discuss this?"

Ma Xun pretended to be confused and asked, "What are you discussing?"

Chang Yuchun said with lingering fear, "What are you discussing? Look at Lao Tang and Lao Zhou, they are already forty years old and are marquises, and now they have been trained into a state of being like this!"

Xu Da beside him also felt a lingering fear, "He is a younger brother, and my brother-in-law is doing this for our own good."

Chang Yuchun said jokingly, "I am from Huaiyuan, which is a little far from Fengyang. You are from Fengyang, and you are closer to the upper position. You can only listen to your brother-in-law's lecture."

Ma Xun got the advantage and acted cute, "Brother Chang, maybe next year your brother-in-law will start to take care of you. Brother Xu, don't be too happy too soon. Huizu will probably not become a prince consort in the future, but your girls will all become princesses."

Xu Da immediately said, "I am just a girl. Calculate my age. Am I the third, fourth, or fifth prince?"

Ma Xun whispered, "I think it's the fourth child. I heard that your daughter is good at studying and has a good temper. She may be able to control the fourth child. The fifth child is not possible. That child likes to study."

"King Wu is also good. He is well-educated and favored." Chang Yuchun said, "If it really is him, it would be much easier."

"The fourth one is really rebellious." Ma Xun complained, "Brother Chang, your Chang Mao has to hurry up. If you have a crush on someone, tell me quickly, otherwise His Majesty will arrange a marriage for you."

Everyone knew that Chang Mao could not become a royal consort.

Chang Yuchun immediately remembered what happened and wanted to grab Ma Xun by the collar, "My eldest brother seemed to have said that you said he was not suitable to marry a noble family. Do you want to find a gentle wife from a scholar family for him?"

Xu Da immediately fanned the flames, "What? Although you saved Old Chang and are Chang Mao's elder, Old Chang is still alive. So it's your turn to arrange a marriage for that boy!"

Ma Xun was panicking. This damn Chang Mao, "Brother Chang, this is unfair! That kid came to me several times before and said this. How could he spread rumors between the two sides?"

In Ma Xun's eyes, Chang Mao was complaining about the daughter of a noble family being so domineering.

When he got to his biological father, the boy said that his uncle said it was not appropriate to find a child in a noble family.

If things continue like this, I might have to make the decision myself!
Regarding Chang Mao's outrageous actions, not to mention Chang Yuchun was speechless, Xu Da couldn't help laughing, and Ma Xun couldn't help gritting his teeth.

There is no need to think too much, Chang Yuchun might punish Chang Mao after he returns. And Ma Xun will definitely make things difficult for Chang Mao after he leaves the palace.

Li Wenzhong also ran over and asked with a smile, "Uncle Xu, Uncle Chang, why do I see you bullying your uncle again?"

"What?" Xu Da looked at Li Wenzhong with dissatisfaction, "Waiting to fight Wang Baobao, let Lao Chang and I be disliked by the superiors first, so that you can become the chief general?"

Chang Yuchun immediately turned his gun around and said, "I think so. Duke Cao is now the Left Commander-in-Chief and in charge of the Grand Commander's Office. When the two of us retire and return home, he can become the chief general."

Li Wenzhong would not be flustered by these jokes. "You two must fight for your place first. You can only be the commander. You are my uncle, so you must follow me."

"Your real uncle is sitting on the throne." Chang Yuchun said, "Your fake uncle is my savior, so you have to follow me to fight."

Xu Da was anxious. "I was so scared when I saw you that I rushed to save you. It would be better if you followed me. You can conquer the city and gain military merit. It's better to follow me!"

Li Wenzhong was immediately excluded. If Ma Xun had followed him into the battle, it would have seemed that only Xu Da and Chang Yuchun would have had to fight for it.

The Huagai Palace was bustling with activity. The noble families were gathered in groups of three or five, chatting animatedly. There were no etiquette or rules to follow at this time.

Looking at the situation in the Huagai Palace, one can more or less see that there are differences in closeness among these founding heroes, and it can even be considered that there are some small factions among them.

Ma Xun had no intention of being a socialite. He just needed to bow and say hello when meeting someone. There was no need to strike up a conversation with someone he was not familiar with.

The people who chatted with him enthusiastically were the families that Zhu Biao had taken him to visit.

(End of this chapter)